Add another name to the list of odd and deadly creatures of Australia. Death is even in the name.

Scientists from Australia and Britain have discovered a new species of snake in the Kimberly region of Western Australia and named it Acanthophis cryptamydros or, the Kimberly death adder.

The snake is about 50cm or one-and-a-half feet in length with a diamond-shaped head. Typical of other death adders, it is considered a "sit and wait" hunter, lying in wait to strike its prey of lizards, small animals and even birds.

Death adders are among the most venomous snakes in the world and killed about half the people bitten by them before an antivenom was created.

Though the Kimberly death adder lives in a mostly isolated area of Western Australia, its low numbers make it more vulnerable to humans than a threat. Loss of habitat and the threat from introduced animals like foxes and cats will keep the snake at risk.

"These snakes are super-camouflaged. Its idea is to look like a rock or a bunch of leaves," Paul Doughty, curator of herpetology at the Western Australian Museum, told the Guardian newspaper. "Unlike a brown snake they aren't designed for speed at all, they are quite slow. They use their tail like a lure, they will dangle it down while it's hidden until a lizard or something comes close and then it will strike. They are in the top 10 venomous snakes in the world. You definitely have to handle them carefully."

The death adder discovery is the latest in a line from the Kimberly region. Six new frog species have been found since 2006, perhaps the most notable is a huge amphibious frog that eats other frogs.